


Mr. Mom

by SRassier



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Family Fluff, Kidnapping (For a Good Cause), Number Five is a good Mom, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26814127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SRassier/pseuds/SRassier
Summary: Five comes back to a few weeks after he originally left. He takes his 9-year old siblings away from Reggie to give them a better childhood, hoping this will fix what was originally broken.The kids learn how to be kids and Five finds romance along the way.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy), Number Five | The Boy/Original Female Character
Comments: 13
Kudos: 86





	1. The Runaways

**Author's Note:**

> I've seen a couple of "Five raises the kids" stories pop up. Here is my take. (written basically because I just wanted to write a courtroom scene.) 
> 
> Also, I am NOT a lawyer nor do I have any experience in family court. The custody battle is probably waaaay off but I figured, it's a universe with superhero kids...whos to say that other things are different too?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five comes back and tries to change his siblings’ future for the better.

The Hargreeves kids were enjoying a rare lunch on a bright Thursday afternoon. What was so rare about this particular meal was the fact that their father, Reginald Hargreeves, was nowhere to be found. As a matter of fact, this whole week was a happy one. The old man had left Monday morning to do some traveling in Europe. He didn’t specify why he was going but they had their suspicions. Klaus and Ben were convinced he was looking for more kids born under special circumstances. Luther insisted that they were being paranoid.

For their part, Pogo and Grace were being as lenient as they could under the circumstances. They knew that Sir Reginald would ask for detailed reports when he came home, and every minute must be accounted for. This didn’t mean that training couldn’t consist of “team building” otherwise known as a rollicking game of tag or hide and seek.

After lunch, the group exited the dining hall and made their way to the classroom to meet Pogo for their afternoon lessons. As much as they tried, Pogo would not budge on the school schedule. The kids sat down in their assigned spots, opened their mathematics text and pulled out their notebooks. 

Number Seven sighed as she looked over at the empty seat next to Number Six. It had only been three weeks since Number Five had left. None of them knew what had happened, he simply ran out of the house after a particularly heated argument with their father about time travel. Their father allowed exactly one instance of ‘should we go look for him?’ before shooting them down and saying that Number Five leaving was “no great loss.”

She thought back to their last conversation how he swore he was ready and when he figured out time travel, he would come back and take them all with him. He said he wanted to get out of this house of horrors, and as his best friend, he would never leave Number Seven behind. She then started to tear up at the thought of a 9-year-old out in the world by himself. Sure, Number Five was strong and very smart, but all it took was one person to overpower him or take advantage and she would never even have a chance to see him again.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door to the classroom opening. She straightened up and expected to see Pogo walk into the room to start their lesson. Instead, in walked a tall man with jet black hair and a suit to match. He was very well put together, not a hair out of place. He looked to Number Seven to be about the age Mom was supposed to look, maybe 30? He strolled in like he was supposed to be there, and the kids had various thoughts as to who he was. Some thought him to maybe be a new tutor, some thought maybe one of Hargreeves’ army of lawyers. Either way, they sat and waited to see what he was there for.

The man walked up to the front of the room and turned to address them. “Good afternoon.”  
“Good afternoon.” The kids all answered in unison, the perfect little soldiers.  
“You are all smart kids so I’m not going to bull shit you.” The siblings shot each other curious glances at the sound of someone daring to curse on the Umbrella Academy grounds. “It’s me, Number Five.” He ignored the noises and comments that were whispered among them. “I figure it’s been about a month for you since I left but for me,” he looked down at his body and back up to them. “It’s obviously been a bit longer.”

“We don’t have a lot of time so I’m just going to cut to the chase. I’m here to take you away from this place.” He got mostly wide-eyed stares, either from excitement or from fear. “This is no place for kids to grow up and Reginald Hargreeves is going to spend the rest of your lives destroying your humanity. That and…” He looked over at his smallest sister and smiled. “…I always keep my promises.”

She smiled back and was about to ask him where they were going to go when Number One stood up. “I don’t believe you.” Five crossed his arms across his chest and waited for him to finish the expected outburst. “Number Five left three weeks ago. He was 9. You are what…40? Who are you?”

Five didn’t have time for this. He disappeared in a flash of blue before reappearing directly in front of One, towering over the boy and looking down on him, causing Number One to flinch for the first time since he was a toddler. “My body is about 29 thank you very much and the reason I don’t look the same is that I spent 45 years in the future before I found a way back to you all.” He looked around at the others and saw faces in varying degrees of shock. “In the future your lives are miserable. You are all broken and quite frankly, a bunch of assholes. I’m here to change that.”

Number Seven took off at a sprint directly at Five. When she reached him, she threw her little arms around his waist and hugged him with all her might. He slowly reached an arm down and patted her on the back before gently pulling her away from him. “I missed you too.” She smiled a sweet smile and the cold, heartless, time traveling assassin found himself smiling right back.

Before anyone else could join in on the reunion, the door swung open and in walked Pogo. He looked the stranger up and down and took in his current state. Knowing that the small child who was currently hanging off his side was comfortable with exactly two people hugging her and one of them was currently downstairs preparing dinner, he allowed a small smile to play on his lips. “Master Five. Welcome home.”

~~~~~~

The tension was palpable. Five knew what he came to do, and no one was going to stand in his way. Not even Pogo who Five remembered to be one of their few allies during his childhood. “Pogo.” He pried himself away from his sister and stood between the kids and the chimp. “My brothers and sisters are coming with me. You tell Reginald whatever you need to, but he will not follow us, he will not look for us, and I promise he will never hear from us.”

“What? No!” Number One walked around to face Five again. “You can’t take us. We belong here.”  
Number Four piped in, “I’m with Number Five!”  
“M-m-me too.” Number Two walked over to stand by Four as if to draw an imaginary line in the room. Numbers Seven and Six soon joined them and One’s jaw dropped in shock as Number Three dipped her head and slowly made her way over to the group as well.  
“Well Luth…” Five caught himself. “One? What do you say?”

One looked around at his siblings and back at Pogo. He was hoping his father’s most faithful assistant would jump in and help him. Instead, the chimp regarded the situation and addressed Number Five. “You will have to knock me out.” All eyes in the room shot to the elderly ape. “It will help sell the ruse. Also, I can say that I do not know who took them.”

“Pogo…” Number One simply muttered and knew he was beat. His siblings needed him and if this is what they wanted; he would have to go along with it until he could think of another way to convince them to come back with him.  
Five smiled a sad smile and nodded before blinking behind Pogo and pulling a gun out of his suit jacket. There were gasps from the children before he turned the gun backward, striking the chimp across the back of his head, knocking him out cold. He put the gun back and looked at the kids. “Let’s go.”

After giving them exactly 10 minutes to gather any personal belongings that they felt they could not live without, he led them out through the rear courtyard and into the alleyway out back. That’s where he had parked the large 8 passenger van he had bought the day before. Five waltzed over, grabbed the door to the back and slid it open. “All aboard.” 

Four was the first one to move. Carrying a backpack full of comic books and as many snacks as he could fit, he rushed past Five and nearly fell over as he leaped into the back row of seating. He was followed closely by Six, with a bag full of books and then Two complete with throwing knife set, each one smiling broadly at the prospect of getting the hell out of Dodge.

Three picked up her suitcase filled with what little civilian clothes she was allowed, took One by the hand and gently led him to the van. Five stopped One as Three climbed into the second row of seats. “You’re not bringing anything?”  
“No.” He looked up defiantly at Five. “Once Dad comes to get us, I’ll be back in my room. No need to pack.” He turned on his heels and climbed in the van, sitting next to his sister and stiffly buckled his seatbelt.

Five sighed and looked back to see his other sister standing in the doorway leading into the house. She carried her violin and a small stuffed dog which Five immediately recognized as his from when he was younger. He walked over to her and knelt down to look her in the eyes. “You ready?”  
“You don’t have to take me, if you don’t want.”

Five thought that if he had a heart, it would break. “Vanya,” at the sound of the strange name, she looked at him in confusion. He didn’t notice. “How could I go anywhere without my best friend?” He gently patted the dog on the head. “Not to mention Mr. Pennycrumb here.” The girl smiled at that and allowed him to take her hand and lead her to the van. He opened the front door and ushered her into the passenger seat. He went around to the other side and jumped in. Looking back to make sure seatbelts were buckled, he nodded and turned toward the front. “Everything’s going to be ok guys. I promise.” He turned the engine over and drove off, leaving the mansion behind.


	2. A New Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and the kids set off toward their new life, they learn their names, and see where they will be living.

Five silently cursed himself for getting such a late start. He knew he should have arrived before breakfast. Reginald will he getting home Friday morning and the runaways had only made it 3/4th of the way through Pennsylvania. He was going to have to make up some time tomorrow to get enough distance between them and Hargreeves before the man came home to find them gone.

He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw three sets of eyes struggling to stay awake and two who simply gave in about a half hour ago. He noticed his navigator had her eyes wide open as she studied the map on his phone. Without looking up, she told him, “there should be a little town coming up. There’s a restaurant and a hotel.”  
“Thanks.” She looked genuinely thrilled to be useful. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he could simply have the phone tell him all that. He figured what the hell could it hurt. After all, they had a long way to go and keeping a brood of 9-year-olds occupied on a road trip was hard. Much harder than he thought it would be. If he let one of them assist him, that would help alleviate that stress considerably.

He pulled into the restaurant and everyone piled out of the van. The kids were giddy with excitement. It was the first time they had eaten at a restaurant. Four and Six ran ahead as Five locked the van. He stepped in line with One and addressed the boy. “Are we going to be ok in there?”  
One glared at him. “If you are asking if I’m going to rat you out?” Five nodded. “No. I’ve been watching you. You’re different. Colder.” Five stopped, causing One to halt as well. The rest of them entered the building ahead of them. “I don’t know what you’ll do to us if I try to alert the authorities. You could hurt one of them. As Number One I have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Five watched as his brother marched on and entered the diner to join his siblings at the hostess desk. He thought about correcting him. Telling him that all this was so none of them EVER got hurt again, but he also needed to get where they were going and if the boy thinking he was a monster was the simplest way to do it then…so be it.

After dinner, they piled back into the van and headed to the hotel. Five got them a room and was hoping they would all fall asleep before he crashed. In the room, an argument immediately erupted over who was going to get to sleep on the two queen beds. Five was starting to get a headache and just before Three was given a chance to rumor everyone but her into wanting to sleep on the floor he snapped. 

“SHUT UP!” He had six sets of eyes suddenly focused on him. “Damn it! Luther, Klaus, Diego…you over here.” He gestured to one of the beds as they all looked at him like he grew a second head. “Allison, Vanya, Ben…you over here.” He pointed at the other bed and plopped himself down on the chair in the corner of the room. “I will sleep here.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he let it out, he opened his eyes to see that no one had moved a muscle. Number Three was the first to speak. “What did you call us?”  
“What?” He rubbed his temples and wondered if the front desk had any aspirin.  
“Those names…are you ok?”  
He immediately sat bolt upright in the chair. “Shit.” This at least loosened up the room a little as a few of them chuckled at his foul mouth. He motioned to the beds. “Have a seat guys. We need to talk.”

All eyes were on him as he paced back and forth wondering where to begin. He settled on the names as that was how this whole thing started. “In two weeks, on your tenth birthday, Mom is going to give you all names.” He saw their eyes light up. Even Number One was trying (and failing) to hide his excitement. “That’s what I called you.” He pointed at each of them as he told them of their monikers. “Luther, Allison, Diego, Klaus, Ben, and Vanya.”

The kids all had various reactions. A few repeated the names to themselves, some simply smiled, but Allison had a stern look on her face. “What if we don’t like it?”  
Five startled. He wasn’t expecting that. He just figured that since they all kept the names into adulthood, they must have been ok with them. “Um. I guess, pick a different one?” They all looked at each other. “But if you are going to change it, I need to know before we get to our destination. That gives you two more days. You either take the name Mom picked or you choose something else. After Sunday night it will be your name.”  
“Why then?” always the negotiator, Five smirked at Allison’s gall. “Why can’t we have a week?”  
“Because on Sunday, we will be arriving at our new home, and on Monday morning I need to register you all for school.” He ignored the gasps. “I need names for that.”

“We’re going to school?” Klaus asked. “Like…real school?”  
“With other k-k-kids?” A look of panic ran across Diego’s face.   
“Yes.” Five tried to give his most genuine smile. “You need to go to school.”  
“What about our training?” Luther received groans from his brothers.   
“Training will continue.” He knew that would shock them. “You all still have powers. They aren’t going anywhere, so you need to be able to control them so I will be training you.” He saw the defeated look on Klaus’ face. “However, training will be decided on between you and me. You will not do any more than you are comfortable with.” Klaus’ eyes fill up with tears as he smiled at Five. Five couldn’t help but think, these kids are going to make him start to give a damn.

~~~~~~

If Five thought keeping a gaggle of kids occupied for a 5-hour drive was tough…he should have expected a 9 hour one to be worse. The day started out innocent enough. They left so early that for the first hour or so, all the kids were knocked out sleeping and he had a fairly leisurely drive. Once they woke up, however, it melted into total chaos. 

Klaus wanted to stop for food every 10 minutes, having depleted his stash of snacks the day before. Ben and Vanya seemed to be content with reading as Diego and Luther argued over the rules of every single road game that they looked up on Five’s phone when Allison wasn’t using it to research girls names.

Lunch and bathroom breaks were a welcome respite as they seemed to all fall into Reginald’s strict regimen when out in public. Five felt a little guilty for letting them think that he expected this behavior as well, but he allowed himself this little evil in order to get them where they were going.

That night, after the excitement (even from Luther) of getting to order Pizza at the hotel, they finally crashed. Five watched his siblings sleep for a few minutes as he told himself that this was absolutely the right thing to do, before turning off the light and letting sleep take him away as well.

~~~~~~

It was late Sunday evening when Five pulled off the interstate for the last time on their journey. Another hour and they would be there. Home. Or at least what he hoped would eventually become a home. Vanya was the only one awake and she was silently watching the passing scenery out her window. “Nebraska is quite a bit different than New York, huh?”  
She did not look at him as she answered. “I like it.”  
The corner of his mouth turned up. “Do you like it because Nebraska is such a wonderous place? Or Because Dad isn’t here?”  
She glanced over at him, sheepishly grinning, “both.”  
Five chuckled. “Same here.”

They rode the rest of the way in comfortable silence. Five’s mind going a million miles an hour as he ran over the list of things needed to not only make his siblings lives safe…but happy as well. Vanya simply looked out the window and hoped that she would now finally be a part of the family she so desperately wanted.

The van jerking to a stop awoke the rest of the passengers and as they stretched and yawned, Klaus asked, “How much longer?”  
“We’re here.” Five said before turning off the ignition and climbing out of the van, allowing himself to stretch as well before starting up the walk to the house.

Behind him, the kids all got out of the van and gawked at the site before them. They had assumed (and whispered amongst themselves) that they were going to have to live in some sort of squalor. This thinking was mainly due to Five putting them up in cheap hotels the entire trip and always eating cheap food and never mentioning a job. Instead, they watched their brother walk up to a large three-story home with a garage and what looked to be a huge back yard. “Holy shit.”  
“Klaus!” Five admonished and the boy blushed.   
“You’ve been swearing the whole trip!”  
“Yeah, well…” Five failed to come up with something smarter than, “I’m an adult.”

He ignored the eye roll that his excuse earned him and planted his feet firmly to address them all. “Ok, here’s how it’s going to go. This place has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The master bedroom and bath are mine, and my stuff is already in it. The other three rooms will be shared by Allison and Vanya, Luther and Ben, and Klaus and Diego.”  
“Why can’t I share with Ben?”  
“Because if Diego and Luther share a room, they will kill each other.”

“Tomorrow we will be heading into town to check out your school. I will be needing the names you chose unless you are going with Grace’s picks. I will register you and we can go get some supplies and clothes for next week.”  
“What are you going to do when we are at school?” Luther asked suspiciously.  
“That’s not your concern.” He gave Luther a look that ended the conversation, for now. “Alright, everyone let’s get you settled. Big day tomorrow!” 

He led his siblings in and up the stairs so they could inspect their bedrooms. Once everyone was settled (and Klaus and Diego were done playing several games of rock paper scissors for who would get the bed by the window), Five bid them good night and closed himself off in his room. He had not spent a lot of time in the house since he bought it last month, just enough to have some furniture delivered and to fill the kitchen with groceries. 

He opened his laptop and checked on the google alert he had set for Reginald Hargreeves. So far nothing. Either the old man wasn’t looking for them, or he was being discrete. He closed the laptop and went to lay down on his bed, not even bothering to take his shoes off and let out a massive sigh. His last thoughts as he drifted off to sleep were, ‘what the hell have I gotten myself into?’


	3. Hot for Teacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids see their new school, and Five meets someone who may change HIS future for the better.

Springbrook Middle school was as average as they come. It was not an excessively large building, but it was enough to house the 5th and 6th graders from Springbrook and four neighboring communities to create a rather full educational facility. As the Hargreeves walked through the front doors, they were greeted by the sight of what appeared to be thousands of kids their age running around, laughing, and slamming lockers left and right. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement.

Five suddenly found his hands filled with those of Vanya and Klaus as the others moved slightly closer to him as they made their way down to the front office. He picked up his pace a bit so that they could get out of the crowded hallway. Once in the safety of the sparser administration area, Klaus let go and the children seemed to relax a bit.

Five told them all to wait on the chairs as he went to talk to the secretary, Vanya in tow as she would not relinquish her death grip on his hand. “Hi, we have an appointment with the principal.” The woman looked at the calendar in front of her. “Name?”  
“Peter Harper…and family” He looked down and winked at Vanya as the woman told him to follow her.

The principal was a short, stout woman with rosy cheeks and a mass of kinky curls atop her perfectly round head. When the ‘Harper’ family entered her office, she rounded the corner of her desk and put her hand out for Five to shake. “Mr. Harper, so nice to finally meet you.”  
“Mrs. Andrews.”  
“These must be your siblings.”  
“Yes.” Five introduced them, glad that Allison finally settled on the name their mother had planned for her. Five could only really see her as that. Gabriella and Heather (her top finalists) didn’t really seem to fit her in his eyes.

The principal gave the kids the most obvious look of pity they had ever seen, no doubt due to the fact that Five had told her that the reason he had custody of them is that their mother and father had died in a car accident over the summer. They were forced to sit off to the side of the room while Five filled out the necessary paperwork and the two adults talked a bit about the school and the way things were laid out. 

She explained that they were all assigned to the same homeroom. Each morning they would be with Miss Ellis. After that, their schedules would vary based on classes they were taking and levels they were in. They were informed that they also would have Miss Ellis for math at some point during the day. She then invited them to take a tour of the grounds with her to get sneak peek of the place before they started next week.

What the school lacked in population, it made up for in diversity of subjects. There was a pool located next to the gym for swim lessons, which Diego was very excited for, a full theater for drama club and the various music groups to perform in, and a library to rival the one in their home, which made Ben grin ear to ear.

As they passed a double door, the principal paused and asked Five if he would like to go introduce Vanya to Mr. Campbell. He nodded and led the girl inside as her siblings waited with Mrs. Andrews, wondering where they were going. 

When they walked inside the empty classroom, Vanya saw the music stands and cubbies at the back of the room that housed various instruments and could barely contain her joy as Five walked over to the man behind the podium scribbling something on a score sitting in front of him. “Mr. Campbell?”  
The man looked up, “Yes?”  
“My name is Peter Harper. This is my sister, Vanya.” She gave the older man a shy wave. “Vanya plays the violin. She will be in your class starting Monday.”  
“Ah!” Mr. Campbell exclaimed. “A fellow violinist! Come, let me shake that undoubtedly magical hand of yours.” 

She giggled a bit as she took his hand. “I don’t know if they’re magic.”  
“Nonsense! All music is magic, and the hands that create said magic must have at least a little in them, don’t you think?” Five smiled as Vanya nodded. The old man looked behind them and saw 5 small faces peeking in the windows of the classroom door. “I see there are some folks waiting for you. Have a good rest of the tour, welcome to Springbrook, and I will see you and your violin, on Monday.” 

As they walked the rest of the way around the school, Vanya could not stop talking about Mr. Campbell to anyone who would listen. She told them of how he said she was made of magic and that he seemed genuinely excited to see her in his class. She also wondered out loud what it would be like to play with a whole orchestra.

At the end of one of the long hallways, Mrs. Andrews stopped and told them that this would be their homeroom. This was where they were to come to first thing in the morning, and they would disperse to their classes each day from there, after announcements. “Let’s take a peek, shall we?”

She opened the door and knocked as she pushed her way inside. Standing at the front of the room was a petite woman with sandy blonde hair cut into a short bob with purple horn-rimmed glasses perched on her face. When she smiled at the large brood being ushered into the room, each member of the Umbrella Academy immediately felt her warmth from across the room. 

Five was the last to enter and he felt something entirely different. He watched as this woman seemed to glide across the classroom to greet his siblings. She looked them each in the eye, repeated their names to commit them to memory, and even laughed…genuinely laughed…at something Klaus said. He looked around the room and each and every available surface of the cramped space was covered in mathematical equations. Plain and simple…Five was in love.

When she was done talking to Vanya, the principal motioned to Five. “This is their brother, and guardian, Mr. Harper.”  
Miss Ellis put out her hand for him. “Mr. Harper.”  
“Five.” He sputtered as he thrust his hand forward for her to shake.   
“What?”  
“Oh.” Five blushed and his siblings noticed. “It’s a nickname. No one really calls me Peter.” Miss Ellis’ class giggled behind him. “Or Mr. Harper.”  
“Alright, Five.” Her smile seemed to send a jolt straight through his chest and Five had to silently remind himself that he was a deadly assassin, damnit, and he needed to stop acting like this was a meet-cute in some cheesy Hallmark movie.

When they all piled into the van, schedules in hand, ready to go shopping, Klaus snickered from the back seat as Five started the engine. “Hey Pete? Is Miss Ellis going to be our new mommy?”  
Five glowered at him in the mirror as the rest of them joined in on the laughter. He started to pull out of the space when he noticed a quiet giggle emanating from the passenger seat. Looking over and finding Vanya covering her mouth he tsked and asked, “Et Tu, Brute?” Which only made the laughter in the van louder as he pulled out into the road. It was going to be a long week.


	4. First Day of School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya finds out she may not be so ordinary, Miss Ellis finds out about powers, and Five finds out that flirting in front of 9-year olds does not go well.
> 
> Also, first day of school!!!

During dinner that night, Five decided to drop the next big bombshell on them. “Alright. Just so everyone is clear, school and learning how to be normal kids is first and training is second.” Luther, Allison, and Diego perked up at the talk of training, while Klaus, Ben and Vanya did the opposite. “Training will no longer be all hours of the day. We will have training sessions each weekend and if you feel the need to have individual meetings with me for help with something in particular, we can schedule that around schoolwork.”

“What is Seven going to do while we are training?” Luther spoke as if the girl wasn’t there.   
Five noticed that she was shrinking back into her seat, perhaps trying to not be there. “Vanya will be training with you.”  
“What?!” Luther and Vanya said at the same time, one in shock, and one in disbelief.   
Five put down his fork and picked up his napkin. He wiped at his mouth trying to think of the best way to do this. In the end, he decided on the old ‘rip it off quick, like a band-aid’ method. “Vanya has powers.”

The room got deathly silent. There were varying levels of shock on their faces as he continued. “Dad knows this. He tried to control them when she was little, but they were too powerful. Instead, he decided to suppress them.”  
“The pills,” Vanya whispered.  
Five couldn’t help but give her a faint smile and nodded. “I need you to keep taking them for now. It’s not good to go cold turkey when you’ve been taking something for 6 years. We will work on weening you off them over the next few months.” Vanya nodded and tried to contain her smile. She was finally going to be part of the team.

A knock at the door brought the family out of their thoughts. “Who the hell?”  
Five got up and went to the living room and pulled the door open. Finding himself face to face with Miss Ellis caused him to freeze. “Hi.” She smiled from behind her nerdy glasses, making Five’s breathing speed up. “Are you ready for me?”  
Five’s eyes widened. “Ready for you to what?” Five watched as her eyes darted over to the door to the kitchen when they heard the giggles emanating from it  
“Mrs. Andrews asked me to swing by tonight…” He could do nothing but blink rapidly in response. “Because there were some things I need to know about the kids before Monday. Something about ‘special circumstances?’”  
“Oh shit!” She raised an eyebrow at his language. “Sorry.” He stepped back and motioned for her to come into the living room. “Have a seat please.” As she crossed to sit on the couch, Five opened the kitchen door and ushered his siblings out and paraded them in front of her. 

“There is no way to say this that will make it easier to believe.” He took a deep breath and just let it flow out. “About 10 years ago, there were a bunch of women around the world who gave birth. The thing was, none of these women were pregnant when they woke up that morning.” Miss Ellis was now the one who could only respond with blinks as Five continued. “You are looking at 7 of those kids. Each and everyone have special powers as a result of their strange births.” 

Miss Ellis swallowed hard as Five went down the line, re-introducing each of his siblings. “Luther has super strength, Diego can control trajectory and hold his breath indefinitely, Allison can make you do anything with a simple phrase, Klaus can see ghosts, Ben has monsters in his stomach and Vanya has crazy power surges based on sound.” At Miss Ellis’ concerned look he added, “But they all know that their powers are not to be used at school.”

He watched her face as she processed what he just said. The family waited as their teacher decided whether to believe them or try to have them committed. Finally, she looked up at Five and asked, “What is your power?”  
“I’m sorry?” He asked.  
“You said that I was looking at 7 of those kids. I’m guessing it has something to do with you looking closer to my age then theirs.” She stood up and placed her hands on her hips, tapping her foot in anticipation of his explanation.

Five smirked before stepping backward into a portal only to appear inches in front of her. She startled but stood her ground as he leaned in just a bit closer. “Spatial manipulation and time travel. But don’t worry, I am very much an adult.” Miss Ellis took in a sharp breath and felt herself leaning even closer as if she and Five were magnets drawn to each other. A boy’s voice from behind them called out, “And he is turned on by math so…”

“Klaus!” Five growled and turned to see the spot where Klaus previously was before he bolted out of the room. He turned back to Miss Ellis and gave her an apologetic look. “He’s…a character.”  
“Is he right?”  
“About…?”  
She bit her lower lip. Five noticed. “Are you turned on by math?” 

Five struggled to comprehend what she just asked him. “Uh…what?”  
“I said, do you really like math?”  
“Oh, uh…yes. Math and science are integral to my power. You could say that my life literally depends on them.”  
“Cool. Mine too.” She poked her head around Five to talk to the kids remaining. “I look forward to seeing you all on Monday.”

Five walked her over to the door where she reached her hand out to him. He didn’t think when he took it in his and brought it up to his mouth, pressing a kiss against her knuckles. Her cheeks flushed and she held his hand a bit longer than she probably should…he was the guardian of six of her students for crying out loud.   
Still holding her hand, Five checked back to make sure the kids weren’t close enough to hear. “Could you keep an eye on Vanya? Her powers are new to her and we are working on them. She may need to take some breaks during the day, and she must absolutely wear ear plugs once she is at full power.”

She nodded, noticing that their hands were still linked. “Also, Ben may be a bit of a part time student. His power is the only one we are actually trying to suppress and some days he may not be in school due to…” he stole a glance back at the boy in question. “…stomach issues. Just send his work home with the others and it will get done.”  
“Sounds good.” She reluctantly pulled her hand back and peeked around him to wave goodbye at the kids before looking back at him. “Um…bye.” She fumbled for the door behind her and nervously chuckled as he stepped back so she could turn and properly grab the handle. 

Five watched as she fumbled for the door and actually caught himself thinking that she was ‘cute.’ Number Five, who had more kills under his belt than most people could even comprehend…was smitten with a ‘cute girl.’ As she walked down the path to her car, he muttered to himself bitterly, “get your shit together Five.”

~~~~~~

Monday came too soon for the kids and not soon enough for Five. As they all piled into the van, it was the first time all week that the entire crew was silent. He dropped them off in front of the school with their backpacks, lunches, and schedules in hands, and pulled away hoping that everything worked out well.

The six Hargreeves (or more appropriately, Harper children) stood in a perfectly straight line facing the front of the building as their brother drove off in the van. Luther looked over at his siblings all in varying shades of nervousness and decided that even if Dad wasn’t around, he was still Number One and it was his job to help them out. “Ok guys, let’s get to homeroom.” It worked and the group unconsciously fell into a single file line after Luther and walked into the school to start their new lives.

Miss Ellis was nearly as excited to see them as they were to see a friendly face. “Good morning Harpers!” She brought them to the front of the class near her desk as the other students poured into the room, finding their seats. “Does anyone need help with their first class? After announcements, you only have ten minutes so if you need directions, let me know now.”

She received several head shakes and Klaus beamed as he told her that he and Ben had her for math first thing in the morning. “Well, that should make your travel time a bit easier.” They smiled and were about to turn around to find a place to sit when she spoke up. “Not so fast, I’m going to need you all up here for just a bit longer.”

The bell rang signaling the start of the school day. Miss Ellis addressed the class. “Good morning everyone!”   
“Good morning Miss Ellis!” Luther noticed that everyone seemed to really like Miss Ellis…maybe this place wasn’t so bad after all. “We have some new students joining our class today.” She stepped aside to let them all be seen. “This is the Harper family.”  
One girl’s hand shot up immediately. “You’re all related?”  
“Yes,” Luther answered. “We’re siblings.”  
“You don’t look like siblings.” The girl said, smearing a disbelieving look across her face.  
“Abby.” Miss Ellis looked down so that she was peering over her glasses at the girl. “Not all families are going to look exactly alike.” She turned to the siblings. “Now. We like to get to know everyone who comes into our class so, let’s go down the line. Each of you tell us your name and what about school are you most excited for.”

Luther stared at her for a moment before looking back at his siblings. He found that they were all staring at him as if to say; “you first.” He turned to properly face the class, took a deep breath, and steadied himself. “My name is Luther. I guess I’m excited for science…I want to be an astronaut someday.” Some kids giggled, but he noticed that a few boys by the side of the room smiled and whispered to each other, hopefully saying something good.

Luther looked to his right and Diego felt panic rise in his chest. He told himself that it was a simple task. Give your name and favorite subject. He thought about how to do it in the least amount of words possible, finally he decided to go with, “Diego. I like, g-g-g-gym.” Damn it. He could ‘feel’ the laughter more than hear it, and the only respite was Miss Ellis’ voice scolding those kids who laughed the loudest.

His panic subsided as Allison took a step forward and clearly stated, “My name is Allison and since I’m going to be an actress someday, I’m looking forward to being in school plays.”

“I’m Klaus.” He was leaning back up against Miss Ellis’ desk and grinned. “I’m pretty excited for lunch.” This earned some snickers from the class, he even noticed that Miss Ellis smiled and shook her head a bit, he was her favorite, he could tell.

Ben could barely be heard as he gave his name and told the class (well, the front row) that he really enjoyed reading, so English would probably be his favorite class. Vanya smiled at him and looked at the room full of kids all staring at her now. “I’m Vanya.” When she paused, one kid called out from the back. “What are you most excited for?”  
She jumped a bit, before lifting her violin and sheepishly saying, “orchestra, probably.”

Thankfully, at that very moment, a voice came over the loudspeaker to begin daily announcements. Miss Ellis whispered to them to go ahead and chose any seat that was open, and she would add them to the seating chart. The kids slowly began to make their way around the room, hoping to sit near to each other but one glance at the layout of empty seats told them that this would not be possible.

Luther took a chance and headed over to the boys in the corner and asked to join their table. They enthusiastically agreed, moving their bags to make room. Allison quickly grabbed a chair next to some girls who looked nice. Diego, Ben, and Klaus, got lucky as they found one table in the back that only had one person currently on it. They flew to it and claimed their spots as Vanya stood nearly frozen at the front of the room. 

Suddenly, she heard a boy’s voice call out her name. “Vanya!” She turned to see a skinny boy with thick glasses sitting at a table with an equally skinny girl. “Over here!” She didn’t hesitate and shuffled over only to smile when she realized why they called her. Sitting under the table were two more violin cases. 

After announcements, Klaus and Ben waited around to see where they would sit for math as the rest of them, for the first time in 10 years, went their separate ways.

~~~~~~

Five sat on a bench about a block and a half from his childhood home, hiding behind a newspaper like some cliché movie spy. He watched as Reginald Hargreeves stepped out of the car that Five had been following all around the city, teleporting from corner to corner to see what the man was up to. Not once did he do anything that made him appear that he ever even had kids, let alone gave a damn about the ones he lost. When he was satisfied that Sir Reginald was not mounting a rescue of his precious charges, Five began the arduous task of teleporting his way back home.


	5. Being a Mom is Hard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New friends are discussed, a party is planned, and Five has his first struggle as a parent.

The chatter in the van was in stark contrast to when Five dropped them all off in the morning. This time, it was six squeaky child voices trying desperately to talk over one another to be the first to tell Five how school was. After a few minutes he finally calmed everyone down with the promise that there would be plenty of time to hear everyone’s stories at dinner.

“Their names are Jacob and Winston and they are both really into space.” Luther told Five between bites of his chicken. “Jacob’s Dad even works at the observatory in Williston and said that he and Winston go all the time if I want to come. So, can I?”  
Five looked up from his own plate with a deer in headlights looks. It’s not that he wasn’t listening to Luther, he definitely heard the words ‘space’, ‘Winston’, and ‘Dad’. “Uh, sure why not?”  
“Thanks, Five!”

“I want to join the football team.” Diego suddenly declared.   
Five certainly heard each and every syllable of that. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”  
The boy tried to put on a brave face and hide the disappointment. “W-w-why not?”  
“It’s just that…” Five wanted them to have everything they didn’t growing up the first time, but he had put rules into place for a reason. “I think your power gives you a slight advantage…kind of like cheating isn’t it?”  
“I w-w-wasn’t going to try out f-for quarterback.”  
Five crooked one eyebrow at his little brother. “So, you think that in the heat of the game, and the opposite team is about to make a game winning field goal, you wouldn’t be tempted to send it juuust a bit off course?”  
Diego thought about it for a moment and then looked back at him. “Wrestling?”  
Five racked his brain for any reason this wouldn’t be a good idea. “That’s fine.”

When Five asked how the rest of their days went, Ben just shrugged. “I guess it was ok. Kind of boring.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. The math we are doing is way behind from what you and I were working on with Pogo and the books we are reading in English are things I read years ago.”  
“Well,” Five couldn’t help but swell with pride even if Ben wasn’t his son. “We could talk to Miss Ellis and see if she can give you something a bit more challenging?”   
Ben nodded and Klaus said in a stage whisper, loud enough for everyone to hear, “I bet he’s sooo upset about having to go talk to Miss Ellis.”

Five furrowed his brow. “I don’t have to ask how your day went do I?” Klaus had the audacity to look like he didn’t know what Five was talking about. “I got a call from Mrs. Andrews today.”   
“Yeah, about that.”  
“Who manages to get detention on their very first day of school…ever.”  
“I…”  
“What did I say about using your powers at school?” The whole table went silent as Five’s voice made it clear he was not joking. “I’m not trying to be a jerk. I know that your powers are a part of you…just like they are for me. This rule is for your own safety. What happens if word gets out that Luther is super strong, or that Allison rumored someone, or about any of you for that matter? Huh?”  
Vanya quietly spoke. “Dad will hear.”  
“Right.” Five looked into six very frightened faces. “You want Dad to find out you are all out here? What happens then?”  
“We go back.”  
“Exactly. You all go back. Back to being run ragged to the point of exhaustion.” He looked at Klaus. “Back to being tortured.” He turned his eyes to Ben. “Back to having to torture yourself.” Lastly, he shot a glance to Vanya. “Back to being ordinary.” He waited to let his words sink in. “Is that what any of you want?”

After hearing a few mumbled ‘no’s and even seeing Luther shake his head, Five softened a bit. “You need to be careful. I just…” He stared down at his forgotten plate and pushed the food around a bit with his fork. “I care about you guys.”

The silence was awkward, but silence was never a match for the curiosity of a child. Finally, Ben leaned over and asked Klaus. “What did you do?”  
“I made a girl cry by telling her that her dead grandma was standing right behind her.” His head lifted from where it was hanging during Five’s speech. “To be fair, I didn’t really use my powers. There was no Grandma, she was just being mean.”

Five’s mouth dropped and the mood lightened as one by one each child started to giggle at his reaction. He tried to hold back his own smile as he struggled to say, “That’s not funny.” It was difficult to sell, however, as the smile broke free and he had to hide his face behind his hand to try to be the adult here.

“Well, I for one hated school.” Allison shocked Five as he thought she would be the first one to love being amongst so many people.   
Klaus snorted. “She’s just mad that she didn’t make any friends and Vanya made two right off the bat.”  
Five decided to deal with Allison on a more one on one level. He instead turned to Vanya who was actually blushing. “Oh, do tell.”  
“Their names are Kenny and Holly. They are in our homeroom and they both play violin.” Five smiled at how suddenly his quietest sibling was all talk when given something to talk about. “Holly is a second violin, so she doesn’t sit by me in orchestra, but Mr. Campbell made me Kenny’s stand partner!”  
“That’s really nice Vanya, maybe you can invite them over on Saturday.”

They all stopped what they were doing and sent confused looks across the table at their brother. “What?”  
“What’s on Saturday?” Luther asked.  
“Seriously?” Five looked around and realized that they were not joking. “It’s our birthday.”  
Allison’s eyes got wide, forgetting her hatred of school for a brief moment in time. “We get to have a party?”   
They all looked hopefully at Five and his heart broke. “Of course, you get to have a party. It won’t be much; we only have a week to plan and are still pretty new in town but…” He smiled at the rapt attention he was getting. “I figured you could each invite one or two kids, we could order a bunch of pizzas, and turn the basement into a movie theater for the night.”

This got the table buzzing. Everyone started to talk to the person next to them about what kind of pizza they would want, and if there would be cake, and who they would ask. Five saw Allison’s shoulders fall as she pushed back her chair and got up. “I guess I’m not coming then because I don’t have any friends to invite.” She sniffed and rubbed at her eyes as tears threatened to fall and quickly ran out of the dining room.

~~~~~~

“Alli?” Five stood outside the girls’ door and knocked gently.  
“Go away.”  
He reached down and jiggled the handle to find it locked. “You know locks don’t really work on me, right?”  
“I also know you wouldn’t come into our rooms without asking,” he heard from inside. “Because it’s the kind of thing Dad would do.”  
“Shit.” He stood in the hallway, leaning his forehead against the door, trying to decide what his next move would be when he heard footsteps padding across carpet and the door lock disengaging. He waited a moment before turning the handle and pushing the door open.

Allison was back to her bed when he walked in and already plopping down on it, face first, when he made it over there and sat down next to her. This was that he had dreaded most when deciding to raise his siblings…feelings. “Hey.” He reached out to put his hand on her back but decided against it at the last minute and pulled it back. “You’ll make friends. You know how I know?”  
“How,” was the muffled reply from the face smashed into the pillow.   
“Because you are a beautiful, intelligent, outgoing girl, and that’s exactly the kind of people that others want to hang out with.”

She slowly lifted her head up just enough to peek at him out the corner of her eye. “Thanks.”  
“Don’t thank me for telling the truth.” He saw the small smile start to form on her lips. This time he decided to go for it and rubbed her back a bit. “Give it a few days. I’m sure someone will pique your interest. And if not…so you come to the party and steal some friends from your brothers.” This caused her to giggle and Five mentally patted himself on the back as she sat up, facing him. “Thanks, Five.” He stiffened as she leaned forward and threw her arms around him. He cautiously let himself melt a bit into the hug and pressed his cheek down on the top of her hair. “You’re a good mom.”  
He pulled back to find her smirking back at him. “Gee thanks.”


	6. Party Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A birthday party and a couple of sassy babysitters, what more could a former time traveling assassin ask for?

Saturday morning, Five was attempting to sleep in as best as his insomnia would allow. Hearing hushed voices from outside his room caused him to finally stir. He threw on a tee shirt over his pajama pants and shuffled to the door. When he opened it, he found himself looking down at six wide eyed children in various stages of dress. Some were still in pajamas, hair sticking in all directions, and some were fully dressed in their birthday party outfits. “You guys know that your guests aren’t coming until after lunch, right?”

“Come on Five.” Allison grabbed his hand and nearly yanked his arm out of the socket pulling him down the hall toward the dining room. He thought about protesting, but simple inertia kept him trudging down the hall, following his siblings as they giggled and laughed while stealing glances at each other.   
“What’s going on?”  
“You’ll see.” Allison kept pulling and finally they reached the dining room. 

Five stopped in his tracks when he saw the table. It was set for breakfast, which was one of the kids’ chores, but what was not on their chore list was making breakfast. The table was full of piles of toast, boxes of cereal, and fruit. In front of the chair that he always sat in was a cup of coffee and a plate that held a simple sandwich. He slowly walked over to the spot and inspected the sandwich, peanut butter, and marshmallow. His breath hitched as Vanya stepped up next to him. “Happy birthday, Five.”

He turned to look at the rest of them and saw nothing but smiling faces. “I don’t know what to say.”  
“It’s your birthday too.” Luther told him as he took his spot at the table. The others followed suit. “We figured; the party is really for kids so…we’d make you breakfast.”  
“The sandwich was Vanya’s idea,” Klaus explained.  
The girl in question shrunk back behind her bangs. “I hope you still like them.”  
He smiled. “It’s my favorite.”

After his sandwich was gone, Luther got up and brought a badly wrapped box over and placed it in front of Five. “What’s this?”  
“Happy birthday.” The boy looked around at the rest of them. “We don’t have any money, so…”  
“We really need to talk to someone about an allowance.” Klaus said.  
Five chuckled back at him. “We can discuss that.”  
“Anyway,” Luther took the conversation back. “Here you go.”  
Five didn’t say anything as he tore open the package. It was definitely not because he was getting choked up. Inside the box was a small booklet made from construction paper and string weaved through holes made with a hole punch.

“Miss Ellis helped us!” Five’s face flushed a bit at the mention of the woman who had been on his mind all week. He hoped the kids thought it was just for the gift. “What is it?”  
“It’s a coupon book.” Allison explained. “It has a bunch of things that when you give us the coupon, we have to do…you know, without giving us our allowance for it.”  
Five raised an eyebrow at the mention of allowances as he flipped through the book. There were varied types of work from doing dishes, to mowing the lawn. Toward the back of the book, he found a few coupons that applied to all of them. He laughed out loud at the sight of the “kids be quiet for one full half hour” coupon. He held it up for them to see. “Can I make copies of this one?”  
His siblings laughed and Diego answered, “originals only!”

“Alright!” He slapped his hands on the table and pushed himself up to stand. “If you are not dressed, get that way…if you are dressed, let’s get the house ready for our guests. I will clean up breakfast and help when I’m done.” The kids scattered and Five started gathering dishes as a genuine smile crossed his face.

~~~~~~

Five knew that having this many kids at his house was going to be chaos. He knew that it would add to his normal daily headache and that the day would be the literal definition of ‘grin and bear it.’ His only respite from the craziness was that there were several parents who came along who seemed more than happy to join in on the games that they had set up so he could just sit back and watch. 

He was looking down at his phone, checking in on Reginald Hargreeves’ activities when a quiet voice broke into his thoughts. “Having fun?”  
“Yeah,” he said without looking up from his phone. “Time of my life.”  
A sweet giggle caused him to close the browser and look up at his companion. He looked up and found himself looking at Miss Ellis. “Oh! Hi.”  
“Hi yourself.” She took a sip of the juice pouch in her hand, slurping as loud as she could. “This party is lit.”  
He chuckled softly as he took a drink of his carton of chocolate milk. “The kids got to create the menu.”  
“This is very nice.” She turned away to watch the craziness in front of them. Five stayed looking at her. He couldn’t help it.   
“Thanks.” 

They stood in silence for a bit before a question formed in the front of his mind. “Not that I don’t appreciate the company but…who’s guest are you?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“It’s just that, I told my brothers and sisters that they could each invite one or two guests and I was wondering who used one of their invites on their teacher.”  
“I’m disappointed in you Five.”  
“How’s that?”  
“You present yourself as some kind of math genius, yet you can’t count to 18?” Five’s mouth opened and snapped closed again. “6 birthday kids, 12 non birthday kids, equals 18.”  
Five looked at her with a mocking scandalized look. “Are you saying you like to crash 10-year old’s birthday parties?”  
“Oh no, I was invited.” Five looked confused. “I’m your guest.”

Five ran all the information around in his head before finally concluding, “Klaus.”  
Miss Ellis nodded, “Klaus.”  
“I swear, that kid…”  
“He’s harmless. He just said that because it’s your birthday too, you should get a guest”  
Five didn’t think before saying, “The other day he asked if we were going to honeymoon at Disney World.”  
“I love Disney World.” She smirked when Five looked at her in shock.   
“Funny.”

Miss Ellis placed her hand on Five’s arm, causing the spot to feel very warm suddenly. “He’s not the first of my students to try to set me up with a parent…or a brother.”  
Five swallowed, suddenly noticing how dry his throat was, “He’s not?”  
“No. I have some experience in that area and I’ll simply explain to him that I do not date the parents of my students.”  
“Hmm.” Five tried to look as casual as possible. “Lucky for me I don’t have any kids then.”

His brazen comment left her speechless. Smiling, he turned to her and spoke before she could retort. “How about dinner? Tomorrow night?”  
“I…” she stammered. “I don’t date…”  
“Is that a school policy or a Miss Ellis policy?” He had turned to face her fully and was looking her straight in the eyes, daring her to deny him.  
“It’s a Miss Ellis policy.”  
“So, you won’t get fired by going to dinner with me?”  
“No, but…”  
“Do you want to go to dinner with me?” He raised a single eyebrow and one corner of his mouth turned up into a half grin.   
“That’s neither here nor there.”  
The other side of his mouth went up to join the first. Miss Ellis was briefly reminded of the Cheshire Cat…if the Cheshire cat was a handsome man hitting on her. “So, you DO want to have dinner with me.”

Miss Ellis was a smart woman. She hesitated to call herself a genius, but others had. She adored math and was convinced that any problem could be solved by simply looking at the hard data and reaching the correct conclusion. The data at hand was as follows;

• She was a single woman, living in a very small town with very few options.   
• Peter “Five” Harper was single.  
• He was also handsome.  
• There were two things that in her mind were nonnegotiable when it came to finding a partner, they must be able to carry on an intelligent conversation and they must love children.  
• Five Harper was a genius. He also gave up his relative freedom to take in six 10-year-olds after their parents died.  
Five Harper was absolutely perfect for her…was she going to throw it all away because of some silly rule she made for herself years ago when she started teaching?

“Tomorrow night?”  
Five’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, I can pick you up at seven.”  
“Make it six. It is a school night.”  
“Six it is.” He watched with anticipation as she pulled a notebook out of her purse (she carried a notebook with her, be still his heart), and wrote her address on one of the pages and tore it out for him. When she passed it to him his fingers lingered just a bit more than necessary, touching the skin on her fingertips as he pulled away. “I’ll be there at 6 o’clock sharp.” She didn’t answer, just grinned and turned away from him to join the party once again.

~~~~~~

“Tie or no tie?” Five was standing in his bedroom holding said garment up to his neck and then away again so that his siblings who were perched in various places around the room could decide.   
“I say no tie.” Allison said confidently. “You want to look classy, but not stuffy.”  
“Agreed.” Klaus piped in. “Miss Ellis doesn’t seem to go for fancy things. That being said…are you going to kiss her goodnight?”  
His head jerked around from where he was hanging the tie back up and saw six sets of eyes watching him expectantly. “It’s our first date.”  
“Implying that there will be more.” Five looked over in shock as Luther joined in on the light ribbing.   
Then Diego added, “also, you didn’t answer Klaus’ question.”  
“I don’t know.” He furrowed his brow as he pulled his shoes out and sat down on his desk chair to put them on. “I’ll have to play it by ear.”

Vanya’s shy voice joined in on the fun. “But you want to kiss her.”  
“Why are you all suddenly so obsessed with my love life?”  
“OH!” Allison squealed and he realized his mistake, but before he could correct his words she sighed, “you love her?”  
“No, it’s just an expression.”  
“So, you don’t love her…” Ben had been quiet the whole time, making Five believe that he may have at least one ally…he was wrong. “You shouldn’t toy with her feelings like that.”  
“You guys don’t…” He was growing ever more frustrated by the minute. Talking about his feelings was difficult enough without having to do it with a bunch of children who didn’t know the first thing about life. “…it’s not that simple…”

He was saved by the sound of the doorbell ringing. “Thank God.” He rushed out of the room, followed by his stylists/therapists. When he reached the door, he quickly swung it open and found the two teen daughters of his next-door neighbors. “Right on time.”  
As he ushered them into the living room, the older one, Lisa spoke up. “You know Mr. Harper, we’re both pretty good sitters, you only really needed one of us.”  
“I’d feel more comfortable with the both of you.” He saw the look exchanged between the girls. “I’ll pay you each what you would normally get separately.”  
The younger one, Hannah piped in. “Sounds good to us!”

After giving the girls a rundown of after dinner chores and bedtime rules, he grabbed his coat and as he put it on remarked. “I shouldn’t be too late.”  
“Yeah, it is a school night.” Lisa smirked.  
“Meaning?”  
“We know you’re taking out Miss Ellis.”  
“How did you...”  
Hannah shook her head. “You better go Mr. H. She does NOT tolerate tardiness.” Five sighed as he knew discussing this with teenagers would be way worse than with children. Without saying a word, he walked out the door.


	7. Hot for Teacher: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and Miss Ellis go on their date.

Five drummed his fingers against the side of his leg. It was a nervous habit he had since he was a kid. Grace once said it had something to do with the fact that his mind moved faster than his body and his body moved faster than most. Most often, he did it when he was bored, the other times, it was when he was anxious. This was the latter.

He tried not to stare as Miss Ellis…’Lizzy’ as he had been instructed to call her, studied the menu. She squinted her eyes every now and then when she came across a particular dish that she wanted to study a bit more and made little humming noises when she approved of its ingredients. It was adorable. Five was trying to act like a normal human being might act on a first date but felt that he was failing miserably due to the fact that this was his first date in nearly 5 years. Also, if you don’t count dates with mannequins…it was his first date ever.

Sure, during his time at the Commission he had fun (once he convinced himself that Delores wouldn’t want him pining for her the rest of his life.) He even had a few women who stuck around for a two-night-stand, if that was even a thing. As far as dates go, with someone that he cared to get to know, and maybe saw some kind of future with? This would be a first.

Lizzy caught him looking out of the corner of her eye as she explored the menu. It was difficult to concentrate when he was drumming his fingers like that. She found herself no longer thinking about dinner but instead thinking about what those fingers could accomplish if she could get him to relax. She shook her head in an attempt to snap out of her dirty thoughts as she reminded herself that she was a teacher…who had his very young siblings in her class.

“Everything looks so good.” She attempted small talk.  
“Yeah you do.” Five immediately regretted opening his mouth when she turned to face him, a sly grin making her look even more alluring than he thought possible. “I mean…yes…” he grabbed his menu and pretended to be engrossed in it, “…it all looks great.”

The waiter gave them both a reprieve when he came to take their order but soon left them alone again and Five decided that enough is enough. They were adults and this shouldn’t be so difficult. “So, how long have you been teaching?”  
“Seven years.” She answered between sips of water. “How long have you had custody of your siblings?”  
Five nearly froze. He and the kids had preplanned answers for questions like this but suddenly he got a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach at the prospect of lying to her. He decided that his siblings came first, and all others were a distant second. “Not long. Our Dad and their Mom died in a car accident about 6 months ago. It was either me or the system, so…they’re stuck with me.”  
“I’m so sorry.”  
“It’s alright. We weren’t close.” He wanted desperately to change the subject. “It did upend my life a bit, they are a crazy bunch of gremlins.”

From then on, the conversation moved to lighter topics. They discussed their families, their work (Five vaguely eluded to being some kind of traveling salesman. He figured their first date was not the time to explain that he made all his money by investing in things while traveling through time and now took some free-lance mercenary work), how he was acclimating to a small town after traveling so much, and general getting to know you fare. Before they knew it, they were pushing their empty dessert plates aside and Five was putting his credit card down for the waiter to pick up. 

“Thank you very much for dinner.” Lizzy smiled. “It was really good.”  
“Well, thanks for picking the place. I would have had no idea where to go.”  
The waiter brought back the receipt and the two of them left the restaurant. Out on the sidewalk, Five crooked his elbow as an invitation and she took it. Linking her arm in his, they set off down the street in no particular hurry to get to his car.

When he pulled up to the sidewalk leading up to her house, Five felt himself get nervous all over again. Should he walk her to her door? Would she interpret that as him asking to come in? Was he asking? Would he? Before he could decide, she shyly asked, almost in a whisper, “Did you want to come in for some coffee, or something?”

He looked over at her and found her looking in her lap, fidgeting with the strap on her handbag. ‘or something,’ was the phrase he was focused on, and probably the phrase she was worried about. “Um.” He tried to choose his words carefully, keep his cool…what he blurted out was, “If I stay much longer, my babysitters are going to eat up my budget for the whole month.”  
“Oh.” She looked disappointed. “Right. Sorry.” Before he could say anymore, she grabbed the door handle and pushed her way out of the car. Peeking back before shutting the door, she gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I had a really good time. Thanks again.”

The door to the van closed with a thud and she shuffled up the walk to the home’s entrance. She was reaching out with her key to unlock it when she heard a faint ‘woosh’ directly behind her and felt a pair of hands on her shoulders, gently turning her around. She spun to find herself face to face with Five and without saying a word, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

As far as kisses go, it was pretty mundane. It got as close to spicy as it was going to get when Lizzy opened her mouth a bit and they allowed their tongues to meet gently in between them. The thrill came in the fact that it was spontaneous and intensely romantic. After what was not nearly enough time in her opinion, Five pulled away and dropped his hands from her shoulders and took her hands in his. “I just wanted to make sure you knew that I would love nothing more than to come in for coffee, or…something.” She blushed. “But I really do need to get home. We’ll have to plan another time for…something.”  
“I look forward to it.” She stood on her tip toes and gave him one last quick kiss before letting herself in and rushing over to the front window to watch him drive away, feeling like a silly girl back in high school with a crush.


	8. What Are We Waiting For?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liz has a question for Five.

The next few months went by much like a dream for all involved. Five found himself going on more and more dates with Liz, Liz in turn found herself becoming more and more enamored with this strange family that had come into her life so suddenly, and the children were becoming more comfortable in their new lives. 

The kids were starting to fall into a healthier rhythm than they ever did while under the thumb of Reginald Hargreeves. Luther had joined the ‘Space Club.’ Which was basically a group of boys who spent every possible free moment at the observatory and discussing how they would all join NASA someday and pilot a mission to the moon. 

Diego was slowly becoming a star of the wrestling team, with his unwillingness to give up and what the coach called a ‘scrappiness he hasn’t seen since he himself wrestled about a hundred years ago.’

Allison had landed the lead in the school play. She spent night after night ensuring Five that she was going to be the best Dorothy Gale that Springbrook elementary has ever seen…maybe even the world.

Klaus had taken his love of quirky clothes to the next level when he found out that plays need ‘costume designers.’ He came home one day and timidly asked Five if it would be ok if he stayed after school a few nights a week and helped the drama teacher and a small crew of kids make costumes for the play. When Five had said ‘of course’ without so much as batting an eyelash, Klaus had nearly toppled the man over with the force of the hug he had given him. Five definitely did not get tears in his eyes…must have been the onions he was cutting for dinner.

Ben was extremely excited not so much for his present, but his future. Five had spent an afternoon visiting all of Ben’s teachers for their opinions on his educational direction. Once he discussed it with them, he sat down and asked Ben to take a few days and decide if he would like to skip 6th grade and go straight to 7th next year. He explained that he would be leaving his siblings behind and heading off to junior high without them, so he was to weigh all his options and take the decision seriously. After three days of deliberation (and a healthy dose of advice from siblings both for and against), Ben chose to do it. He was excited and terrified and had thrown himself into his schoolwork to make sure that no one was disappointed in their choice to advance him.

Vanya was slowly getting a hang of her powers. Five now had her down to half a pill a day and hoped that she could be completely off them by the end of the school year. She spent her evenings training as much as Five would let her after doing her homework and practicing the violin. None of these things concerned Five nearly as much as how enthusiastically she spoke about her stand partner, Kenny. He even swore he overheard Allison and her giggling one night in the living room and heard the words ‘kiss’ and ‘boyfriend.’ He was going to have to talk to that boy soon.

Liz spent nearly all her evenings with Five. Either they were having dinner at his place with all the kids or they were having ‘date night’ at some restaurant in town while the Kinley sisters were reaping the rewards with the best babysitting job they had ever had. They had fallen into a comfortable sort of domestic bliss but the more time they spent together, the more something nagged at the back of her mind. She decided that Five was a very blunt man, so she was going to be blunt with him.

She and Five were cleaning up the table and loading the dishwasher as the sounds of 6 pairs of feet shuffled above them preparing for bedtime. Five learned fast that if he made them get ready early, then let them unwind the rest of the night afterward, it was much easier to get them to sleep when he needed to. “Five?” She grabbed a few balled-up napkins and strolled over to the garbage can. She heard a soft, “hmm?” and told herself just to get it over with. “Why haven’t you tried to sleep with me?”

She wasn’t looking at him but could feel the tension rise a bit in the room as all sounds from his side of it ceased. The clinking of dishes, the shuffling of feet, the slurp of his after-dinner coffee…all stopped. All that was left was the water running as she slowly turned to face him. 

She was met with his back, straight and rigid as if called to attention by an imaginary drill sergeant. He reached out and turned off the water and absentmindedly grabbed for a towel to dry his hands. He started rubbing them with the towel as he turned around to look at her. “I…uh…what?”  
She couldn’t help but grin at the usually well-spoken man in front of her reduced to single syllable words. “It just that.” She began to cross the room and didn’t stop until she was directly in front of him. “We’ve been seeing each other for several months now, and I think…” She emphasized the word ‘I’ as she took his tie in her hands and started to play with it, peeking up at him over her glasses. “…it’s been going quite well.” She knew she was playing dirty, but she pouted, “don’t you?”

Five’s brain to mouth function seemed to be damaged by the site before him. Inside, he was breaking into a romantic soliloquy about how in the short time they had known each other not only has she become the glue that was holding their odd little family together, but she had become the light of his life, his reason for getting out of bed each morning, his entire motivation for each breath that he took. Instead, all he managed to eek out was, “Um…yeah.”

“And we’re both physically attracted to each other…” This time all she got as a response was a nod. “So, I was wondering…” She pulled his tie to bring his face down to her level, placing a quick kiss on his lips. “…what the heck are we waiting for?”

Finally, Five’s brain function caught up to his body and took back over. He brought his hands up to gently rub her shoulders and he leaned his forehead against hers. “Lizzy. You are an amazing woman, and believe me, not a day has gone by since I first laid eyes on you that I didn’t think about…that.” She was feeling her controlling façade slowly dissipate as the blush swelled over her cheeks. “It’s just that my life has certain…complications.”  
“I don’t care about complications.”  
“But I do.” He watched her face fall but quickly added, “There are just a few things I need to tell you…to have you understand…before we…” One side of his mouth turned up as he raised an eyebrow. “…take that step.”  
“Ok.” She pulled away, gaining a smug satisfaction of the tiny whimper she heard emanate from his lips as they broke contact. She strolled over to the table and took a seat in the chair closest and folded her hands in her lap. “Tell me.”

As he watched her purposefully stride to the chair and sit on it like the owned the place, looking his straight in the eye and with no waver to her voice or even a hint of trepidation ask him to tell her everything, Five was convinced of one very important fact. He was head over heels in love with this woman. He knew his next move was especially important. He could not lose her. He would not lose her.

“Tomorrow.” He swallowed hard at her narrowing eyes and pursing lips. “Some of the things I have to tell you involve the kids. They should have a say in whether or not that information gets out and to whom.” He watched her glare melt away into something more curious. “I will talk to them at breakfast tomorrow and then later, I’ll take you out to lunch and well…I will tell you all I can.”

She pondered it for a moment before finally standing and taking the few steps needed to be next to him once again. “I guess I can wait until tomorrow.” He visibly relaxed and she put her hand on his cheek.   
He leaned into it, feeling calm despite the tough conversation he was going to have to have in the morning. “Thank you.”   
She put her other hand on the other side of his face and pulled him close. Their lips met and Five felt himself melting even more into her touch. She hummed a bit and felt him smile against her lips. When they parted, she kept her hands where they were and used them to make sure he was looking at her. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Peter Harper.” 

She thought she saw a small flinch but brushed it off as nerves at hearing the ‘L’ word so suddenly. She tilted her head and spoke in a near whisper. “You don’t have to say it back…I just thought…” She was cut off by Five closing the space between them and capturing her in another kiss. This one was more forceful, more demanding. He snaked his arms around her lower back, and she brought hers up to tangle her fingers in his hair. She wanted more, but knew that until tomorrow at a minimum, this would have to do. 

This time, when the couple broke, it was her who made a choked sound of disappointment. He chuckled a bit as he looked down at her and then spoke. “I love you too.”


	9. Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five asks the kids how they feel about Miss Ellis. A date ends in disaster.

The Harper children knew something was up. Nearly every Saturday since they left their father’s home, they were plopped down in front of the television to watch cartoons while they had bowls of cereal too sugary to be remotely good for them. Five said that it was what ‘regular kids’ did, so that’s what they did. This Saturday, however, was quite different.

They were all seated around the table as Five dished out eggs, bacon, and hash browns onto plates and then had Vanya and Klaus help bring them to the table. Once they all had food in front of them, he sat down and started to eat. The kids sent each other questioning looks but soon followed suit and dug in as well.

Luther finally could not stand the simple ‘not knowing’ of it all and put his fork down. “Five? What’s up?”  
The man in question barely looked up to see who was addressing him, “what do you mean?”  
“We never eat at the table on Saturday mornings.”  
“Are we being punished?” Klaus piped in. “Or are you trying to win Mother of the year?”  
“No!” Five lifted his head and looked around the table at six sets of questioning eyes. “I just have something to talk to you all about and…” He sighed and put down his own fork. “…I wanted you all in one place is all.”

Diego looked more worried than the others. “Are you sick?”  
“What?”  
“You are aren’t you?! You’re sick w-w-we’re gonna have to b-b-back to dad!”  
The kitchen suddenly erupted with the sounds of anger, fear, and sadness at the thought of going back to Dad because Five was ‘going to be dead in a week!’ according to Klaus.  
“I’m not dying!!” Five shouted above the clatter and it started to dissipate as he went on. “I just wanted to ask you guys about Miss Ellis…geez.”

Allison and Vanya exchanged quiet giggles as Diego and Luther simply looked confused. Ben still looked like he was still worried about Dad and Klaus just told Five matter of factly, “If you are asking for our permission to marry her…our answer is ‘it’s about time.’”  
The girls nodded in agreement. Ben’s face started to soften as he realized that Dad was no longer on the table, and Luther and Diego still looked confused. “Is that really something that is our decision?” Luther asked and Five couldn’t help but be proud at the progress he had made since they arrived. Luther was thinking about others instead of trying to lead them.  
“Whether or not I have a relationship with someone is my business, but there is something about it that concerns you.”

He received stares in lieu of comments. “I’m not good at talking about feelings so I’m only going to say this once. Miss Ellis and I are in love. We want to be together but before we can…” He took a deep breath and braced himself. “I think I should tell her everything.”

He knew from the blank stares he received from most of them that they didn’t grasp what that meant. It was Allison who got it first and uncharacteristically, she said in a shy voice. “What if she tells on us?”  
“What do you mean?” Klaus was once again shoveling food in his mouth now that he knew it wasn’t a serious conversation, “How can a teacher tell on you?”  
Luther caught on. “If Five tells her everything, she’ll know that he kidnapped us.”

Five only saw fear as he looked at his siblings. It broke his heart, and he didn’t know what to say. “See, Miss Ellis is a special lady. She values honesty above all else. If I keep things from her, I’m afraid she may not want to be in my…in our lives.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin and pushed his plate away, his appetite gone. “I will not tell her if you guys don’t want me to. You are more important than some girl.”

Vanya gave Five a small smile. “She’s not just ‘some girl.’ You love her, and that should mean something to us.” She looked at her siblings. “You guys have ben kinder to me in the last 9 months than anyone has been my whole life.” Some of their faces fell but she continued. “I don’t say that to make you feel bad. It’s not your fault…it’s Dad’s.” Five watched as the soft-spoken girl plead his case. “The reason I am happy is Five. He took us out of that awful place and gave us lives…real lives. I think we owe him.” She swallowed hard before taking the next step. “All in favor of letting Miss Ellis in on everything…” She raised her hand straight up in the air and if the reasoning wasn’t so serious, Five would have laughed at the thought of a bunch of 10 year olds deciding his fate with a show of hands.

He watched in stunned silence as one by one, hands shot up around the table. First Klaus, then Ben and Allison. Diego joined in and gave Luther a nudge and the tall boy nodded his head and raised his own arm into the air. “Wow guys, I don’t know what to say.”  
Klaus smirked as they all put their hands down. “Just make sure she knows that she’s not just getting you…she’s getting all us weirdos.”  
Five laughed. “I think that’s part of the appeal believe it or not.”

~~~~~~

Liz paced back and forth in her living room, checking the clock every thirty seconds or so. Five said he would be there at 12:30 to pick her up for lunch. Five was never late. He was never early. He was the most punctual person she had ever met so she knew watching the clock was silly. He said 12:30 so he would be there at 12:30. 

At 12:29, she heard the big van that he used to haul all his siblings around pull up into her driveway. She walked over to the big mirror in the hall and re-checked her outfit and hair. “It’s just lunch,” she tried to convince herself even though she knew that what was discussed at this particular lunch would perhaps change her whole life.

The knock at the door startled her despite knowing exactly who it was and that he was there. She grasped the knob and turned it, opening the door to a smiling Five holding a bag of Chinese food. “I thought we’d eat in.”  
“Alright.” She steps aside and watched as he entered the kitchen and busied himself with plates and silverware. “Is everything ok?”  
“Yeah.” He started dishing out food onto the plates as she cautiously sat down in front of one of them.   
“How did the conversation with the kids go?”  
He finally looked up at her and she caught a hint of a smile. “Good.”  
She relaxed a bit and tried to enjoy lunch all the while Five kept trying to make small talk, avoiding the subject that she really wanted him to get to. After they had finished cleaning up the dishes, Five took her hand and led her into the living room, guiding her to sit by him on the couch. This was it.

“Ok, there’s kind of a lot to unpack here so it’s best if you save questions until the end.” Liz nodded and Five took a calming breath before unloading it all on her. He recapped what she already knew about them being born on the same day under mysterious circumstances, and how they all had powers because of this phenomenon. He then explained that Sir Reginald Hargreeves sought out all 43 of those kids and got seven of them. She tried to hold back the tears as he told her of their childhood, being emotionally abused and pushed to their physical limit all in the name of ‘saving the world.’ 

He then talked about the day of his disappearance less than 1 year ago. He wanted to hold back the gory details of his time in the apocalypse but didn’t. He wanted to make sure she had the whole picture. He told her of Delores and burying his adult siblings. He hesitated before introducing The Handler and the commission in his tale, as he figured if something was going to make her run, finding out her boyfriend was a time traveling assassin would probably be it.

Next, he told her of finding out that Vanya caused the very apocalypse he spent 40 years of his life in. It was then that he hatched the plan to come back and take them all away from Hargreeves and give them a fighting chance of becoming a family, or at the very least…decent human beings.

“So.” He never took his eyes off hers as she processed everything he had said. “I will understand if any or all of this makes you never want to see me again, but I do want to ask one favor.” She stared at him blankly in response. “If you call the cops on me for the kidnapping…can you give us a day’s head start?”

Liz blinked a few times as she stared into his eyes. He had no idea what was going to happen, and it was driving him insane. His fingers started to tap against his leg much like they did on their first date. He only tapped for a minute before Liz sat up and leaned forward, capturing his lips in a fiery kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and in response, he sat dumbfounded. When she pulled back, his sat with his mouth half open, speechless. “I love you, but God, you’re stupid.”

Five blinked and was brought back to reality by the statement. “I have been called a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them.”  
“Is there a reason you didn’t go get a lawyer rather than jump straight to kidnapping?” Five stammered for a moment before she continued. “I would never think of turning you all in. You did something wrong, but for the right reasons. I do worry how long it will last before Hargreeves finds you.” Five nodded. “My brother is a lawyer. We should talk to him about your options. Get out ahead of it.”

His body started to visibly relax. He told her everything and she still wanted him. “You are amazing.”  
“I know.” She winked.  
“Now what?”  
Liz stood up and started walking down the hall to the back of the house. When she got the door of her bedroom she called back. “Now, I’m going to pack an overnight bag so you don’t have to pay for the Kinley girls’ entire college education just so we can have sex.”

~~~~~~

Five couldn’t remember the last time he was ‘good nervous.’ He was always on guard and thinking of every possible way a scenario could go wrong. Nerves revolving around danger he was fine with but being anxious for something good…not something he was accustom to. As he drove the van down the small-town streets of Springbrook, he kept stealing glances at the woman in the passenger seat. She loved him. She knew who he was…what he was, and still loved him. She loved his siblings and wanted to include them in her life. Five had never ranked the few times in his life he had been truly happy but knew that this one was definitely up there.

His happiness was dashed as he turned the van down the street leading to the house. There were red and blue lights everywhere. Several police cars and an ambulance sat in front of his house. He was nearly out of the car before he put it in park.

As he rushed up to the house, a set of large men were dragging a kicking and screaming Diego out of the house, with Allison being carried by another with his hand firmly over her mouth. He saw a police officer start to approach him with his hand on his weapon but before he could jump, he heard a small voice cry out his name. He turned toward the house and Vanya was running toward him.

The cop seemed to second guess drawing his weapon on a man while a child was rushing into his arms. Vanya crashed into Five, nearly knocking him over and through her tears he heard her sob, “they’re taking us back!” Five grasped the gravity of the situation and ran scenarios in his head as he vaguely heard Liz talking to the Kinley sisters off to the side of him. He decided that right now was not the time to fight this…someone would get hurt.

“Hey, hey!!” He stood up, lifting Vanya with him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on like a vice. He slowly walked toward the men unnecessarily manhandling a bunch of ten-year olds as he kept his eye on the cops. “Diego, Allison…guys.” He addressed them all as best he could between yells and kicks and even Klaus spitting at one guy. “Calm down, we need to be smart about this.”

His siblings started to ease up and in turn so did the men. The cop who originally approached him was now at his side, about 5 feet off. He still had his hand on his side arm, Five noticed. “Mr. Hargreeves. These children don’t belong to you.”  
He ignored the officer and kept talking to his siblings in a soothing tone. “I need you all to do exactly what these people say.”  
“What?!?” Luther surprised even himself with the outburst.   
“I’m going to fix this…I just can’t…” He felt Vanya’s sobs get harder and he struggled to keep going. “I can’t do it this way. Please. Do you trust me?”

Five sets of eyes were all on him. One by one he saw them nod before feeling Vanya’s head go up and down as well. “Good. I need you to do what they say. I will figure this out, but until I do…I need you all to cooperate.” He received scowls and some frightened tears but more importantly, he received compliance. The children allowed themselves to be led into two waiting vans with the words “Child Protective Services, New York City” printed on the side. He knelt down and pried Vanya’s tiny arms from around his neck and tilted her head up to meet his eyes. “I will figure this out. They can’t keep me from my best friend, right?”  
“Right.” She sniffled and her lip quivered, causing Five to nearly lose control and allow 55 years of homicidal rage to take over and take care of the situation the way the Commission (and Reginald Hargreeves himself) would probably enjoy. Instead, he leaned over and kissed the top of her head as one of the CPS people came over and took her hand, leading her away to the waiting vans.

He stood, the fight in him subsided, for now, and put his hands behind his back as the cops approached him. He could see his siblings faces in the vans and he simply nodded and smiled at them to (hopefully) let them know that he was handling it. He watched them drive away as the police put him in the back of a squad car, saying something about his right to an attorney but Five wasn’t listening. He was planning. He was already halfway to a plan to get them all out of this mess when the car jolted forward to take him back to New York and to his father.


	10. Deal With the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ole Reggie has a deal for Five…should he take it?

“What are you in for pretty boy?” Five rolled his eyes. The immediate shock of the police showing up at his home, being extradited back to New York, going through the tedious booking process, and being thrown into the county jail to await trial was over. Now Five spent the last few days answering asinine questions from the local winos about why someone as put together as him was in the drunk tank.

“Kidnapping.” He replied dryly.  
“You some kind of pedo?” The man was easily twice Five’s size. He could take him out and no one would suspect anything but self-defense. You know what happens to pedos in prison?”  
“I’d imagine you have firsthand experience, why don’t you tell me?”  
The man stood up from his spot on the bench and advanced on Five. He simply stayed laying on the bench at the other end of the communal cell. “You calling me a perv?”  
“What the hell.” Five stood up and squared up against the big man. “Let’s get this over with.”

The man took a swing at Five and he had to admit, for a big guy, he was pretty fast. Not fast enough, however, as Five disappeared in a flash and appeared behind the man, planting a swift kick to the back of the big man’s knee…dropping him like a sack of potatoes.  
“What the fuck?” He heard from some random guys watching the whole thing. He stood up straight and fixed his tie, waiting for round two when the warden strolled in and announced, “Hargreeves!” He saw the man on the ground and ignored him. “You’ve got a visitor.”

Five reached down and patted his sparring partner on the back and leaned in to whisper. “I kidnapped my siblings and I’ve killed more people than you have bottles of whiskey so when I get back, you better stay the fuck away from me.” He stood up straight and turned toward the door, following the warden out and down the hall to a meeting room.

He stopped short when he saw who his visitor was. During his long and arduous life, Five had seen and done things that would make a lesser man curl up into the fetal position and cry. During all this time, he willed himself not to be afraid. Fear was a killer in his line of work. When he walked into the meeting room, for a split second, he was taken back to when he was 9 years old, and an unnatural spike of fear entered his mind. 

“Number Five.” Reginald Hargreeves spoke as if he was talking to a servant and not a child that had disappeared nearly a year ago. “Sit down.”  
Despite his apprehension, Five sat. “What the hell do you want?”  
“Is that any way to talk to someone who holds your fate in his very hand?”  
“I think I’ll take my chances in court rather than trust you.”  
Reginald scoffed. “You haven’t changed. You are the same stubborn little boy who thinks he’s smarter than everyone.”  
“Smarter than some.”

For a moment, the two men sat in silence, waiting for the other to break. Their starting contest was interrupted by the door opening. In walked a man about Five’s age, wearing a cheap, off the rack suit, carrying a briefcase. “Mr. Hargreeves.” Five and Reginald looked at the man. “Oh, um…” He pointed at Five. “This Hargreeves.” He gave Five a smile more confident than Five felt that he deserved. “Stop talking please.”  
“Who the hell are you?”  
“I’m your lawyer.”

“Good.” The lawyer and Five looked back to Reginald. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him and take the deal that I have brought.”  
“I doubt there is a deal that you could offer that I would take.”  
“Please Mr. Hargreeves.” Five’s lawyer pleaded. “Please stop talking.”  
Reginald ignored them both. “I would like to drop the kidnapping charges.”  
“What?” Five said, brushing off his lawyer before he could tell him to stop talking. “What’s in it for you?”  
“Here is what I propose. I drop the kidnapping charges. No strings. You agree to have a judge decide who has legal right to the children. If you win, you take the children and take them back to Nevada.”  
“Nebraska.”  
“Wherever you wish. I will hand over all paperwork, social security cards and the like and I will accept defeat.”  
“And If I lose?”

“When you lose.” Five silently cursed the man’s audacity. “You agree to come back to the Academy.”  
“When you say ‘come back…”  
“You re-join the team. You work for me and you will be allowed to continue training Number Seven.”  
“You’ve got to be shitting me?”  
“Or you could take your chances with the kidnapping trial and then do battle in family court. Be aware, however, that during that time, the children will live with me.”

Five and Reginald went back to their staring contest and the lawyer looked back and forth between them with trepidation. “Mr. Hargreeves.” I would like to confer with my client. If you give me your lawyer’s information, I will call you with our decision by the end of the day.”  
Reginald stared at Five for another few seconds before standing and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a business card and handed it to the lawyer before walking out without saying another word.

“Not that I don’t appreciate you being here,” Five turned toward the man in the suit. “But who the hell are you?”  
The man held out his hand for Five to shake. “The name is Richard Ellis. I’m Lizzy’s brother.”  
Five took the hand and a slight look of relief spread across his face. “Thanks for coming all this way.”  
“Well, Lizzy called in a panic saying that her boyfriend was in trouble. We can talk about your intentions with my sister after all this is over, for now let’s just keep you out of prison.” He looked at the business card and frowned. “You are not going to like this but…I think you should take his deal.”  
“Not a chance in hell.”  
“Look. I have been looking at your father’s paperwork and his legal claim on those kids is airtight. It’s going to be hard enough to get a judge to go against what another judge already sanctioned. If you are charged with kidnapping, you don’t stand a chance in hell.” He gave Five a moment to absorb this. “We need him to drop those charges.”  
Five took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alright. Tell him he has a deal.”


	11. The Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five fights hard for his siblings in the custody battle. Feelings are shared, fluff ensues.

The morning of the trial, Five was sitting in the meeting room again, finishing up tying his tie when the door opened. In walked Richard. “I have a good luck surprise for you.” He stepped to the side and Five’s eyes lit up when he caught site of Lizzy standing in the doorway of the room. She ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. After a few moments, the couple heard an over dramatic cough coming from behind Liz. They pulled apart and Liz looked back at her brother, her face turning beet red. “Sorry.”  
“You ready?”  
Five nodded. “Let’s do it.”

The trio walked into the courtroom and headed down the aisle. Liz squeezed Five’s hand before breaking off to sit by the children who were already seated in the viewing area. He smiled at the sight of them despite their somber appearance, as it was the first he had seen them since they were taken away. Klaus was the only one to break ranks as he enthusiastically waved and called out, “Hey Five!”  
Five waved back before following Richard up to sit at their assigned table.

Soon after, the doors swung open and Reginald Hargreeves with his lawyer in tow strolled into the courtroom and took their places at the opposite table. Lizzy couldn’t help but notice how the children stiffened when he entered the room. She even caught Vanya trying to hold back tears at the sight of the man. She shot a look at her brother as if to say, “you better not lose this thing.” He just nodded in response.

After what seemed like hours, the bailiff told everyone to stand as the judge entered the room. He asked everyone to be seated and started the trial. “Good morning. My name is Judge Harold Watkins. Today we will be hearing from interested parties in the custody of the six Hargreeves children.” He shuffled some papers before continuing. “I will hear from each of the petitioners, Reginald and Five Hargreeves, then I will entertain any character witnesses you may have, and finally I will hear from the children. My decision is final in this and all parties will adhere to my ruling. Is that understood?” Five and Reginald’s lawyers expressed their agreement. “Good. Mr. Medina…you’re up.” 

Reginald’s lawyer stood up and brought a stack of papers to the judge as Reginald simply sat. “Sir Reginald feels that with the law being on his side, he feels no need to burden the court system with a time-consuming testimony. I have here Sir Reginald’s legal documents signed by him as well as the children’s parents. I have also included qualifications of the children’s tutors and the finances of the household. As you can see your honor, Sir Reginald is more than able to take care of these six children as he has been for the past 10 years. He can provide for them and they will never want for anything. Thank you, your honor.”

“Smart.” Richard whispered to Five as the judge poured over the paperwork. “If Old Reggie doesn’t get up there, I can’t question him.” They all sat in silence as the judge reviewed the papers in front of him. Finally, he placed the last piece on the stack and turned to Five’s table. “Mr. Ellis….”

Richard stood and motioned for Five to do the same. He let Five go first and watched as he headed up to the stand and sat. “Mr. Hargreeves, can you explain your relationship with the six children in question?”  
“Mr. Ellis.” The judge cut in. “This is not a criminal trial. I have all that information in front of me. Get to the part where Mr. Hargreeves explains why the children should go home with him.”  
“Yes sir.” He cleared his throat and to Five’s surprise, seemingly brushed it off quiet easily. 

“Five.” He leaned back on the side of his desk, changing the mood of the room into something more casual. “Why would you, a young man, his whole life ahead of him, want to take in six 10 year old kids? It has to be a daunting task.”

Richard had prepped Five on his answers. He knew what they practiced, and Richard had assured him that Reginald would be going for money and power, he needed to play up the emotion. The problem was Five hated talking about his feelings. He also knew that he needed to win this. Not just for the kids, but for himself.

“I will admit, at first I was terrified of the concept of me raising kids.” He noticed that Reginald and his lawyer started whispering. “I guess you know my particularly strange story?” The judge nodded. “My only contact with these guys before I came back was when I was young. I knew them as my equals, even if I considered myself above them most of the time.” He felt the kids’ eyes on him. “Over the last 9 months, I really started to see what kind of people they really are.”

“Luther is a good leader. Not because someone ranked him to be so, but because he genuinely cares about everyone and goes out of his way to make sure everyone is safe and happy. Including his grumpy old man of a brother.” He watched as Luther dropped his head and tried not to show emotion. 

“Diego is tougher than Dad ever gave him credit for. He spent so much time pitting him against Luther that he couldn’t see how strong he really is. I have never met someone who sticks with things like Diego…especially tough for a kid.” Diego smiled at Five and sat up a little straighter at his words.

“During my childhood, I thought Allison was nothing but a snobby brat.” Allison’s head snapped up. “But now I know, I was the brat. Allison is the most outgoing girl I have ever met. She is quick to make friends, and spends her time making sure her friends are loved. She is going to grow into an amazing young woman.” He saw the tears start to fall, and looked down, knowing that if he kept looking, he would cry as well.

“Klaus.” The child in question sent another enthusiastic wave to Five, causing not only Five, but the judge to chuckle. “Klaus quiet simply does everything in his power to make sure everyone is having a good time.” He sent a glance to Liz. “He’s also a pretty good match maker.”

Five took in a breath before continuing. “I have never been prouder of anyone than I am of Ben. Under our father, we were training to become a team. Due to this, Ben and I were forced to stay at the same level in school despite the fact that it was moving too slow for us. I was only allowed advanced mathematics due to it being integral to my power. In just 6 months of school, Ben has been approved to skip a grade and he couldn’t be more excited.” Ben nodded in response.

“Vanya.” Five stared at Vanya for a beat. He tried to look away from her big brown eyes but failed, so he ended up talking directly to her. “We treated you like you were nothing. We thought that because you didn’t have powers that you were less than all of us. Turns out you were more extraordinary than any of us could be. You are the heart of this family.”

Five felt himself starting to get choked up so he needed to wrap it up. “I guess what I’m trying to say is…I love them.”

Richard sat down and gave Five a quick thumbs up. Reginald’s lawyer stood up. He didn’t come around the other side of the table, simply addressed Five. “Isn’t it true that you are in a romantic relationship with the children’s teacher?” You could have knocked Five over with a feather. “Do you think it’s in the children’s best interest to be banging their daily caregiver?”  
“Mr. Medina,” warned the judge. “Keep it civil.”  
“Sorry, your honor.” 

Five didn’t wait for him to ask again. “There is no rule in the school district saying that teachers aren’t allowed to date their student’s guardian. Liz and I keep our relationship separate. She doesn’t play favorites and I don’t believe that the kids’ lives have been damaged at all by us being together.” Richard turned back and sent his sister a shocked look. They had not rehearsed this, but he nailed it. Reginald’s lawyer huffed and sat down. “I guess that will be all.” The judge said as a dismissal and Five went back to his seat.

“Number Seven?” The kids jumped and Five cringed at the judge calling out her ‘legal’ name. “Come on up here honey, take a seat. Vanya slowly got up and walked up to the stand and sat down on the chair that had been turned to face the judge. “Ok. This is just you and me. No lawyers will ask you questions. I just want you to tell me where you think you’d like to live.”

Vanya swallowed hard. “Dad has me take medication for my anxiety. I had powers all along. I had to take the pills to not have them.”   
Reginald’s lawyer jumped up. “Your Honor, Number Seven’s power is very dangerous, Sir Reginald was just thinking about the safety of others.”   
“Thank you, Mr. Medina.” He held up a file labeled Number Seven. “I can read.” He went back to Vanya. “Go ahead.”  
She looked over at Five and back at the judge. “Five’s my best friend. I want to stay with him.”

Vanya hopped down off the chair when the judge dismissed her. She touched Ben on the arm as he passed her on his way up. When he climbed up onto the chair, the judge smiled down at him and asked, “How about you, Number Six?”  
“Ben.”  
“I’m sorry. Ben.”  
“I want to stay with Five. He lets me read whatever I want. I can read fiction or history, or biographies…whatever I want. He says that all knowledge is a step forward and I am making strides. He cares about us. Dad doesn’t.” Five was startled at his bluntness. As he walked back to his seat, he sent Five a shy smile.

Klaus climbed into the chair and let out a jovial, “Hiya judge!”   
“Hello young man.”  
“Can I say first of all…Miss Ellis does NOT treat us better because she’s dating Five. I can attest to that. If she was, I would not have gotten a D in math.” He put his hand up to his mouth as if whispering a secret to the judge. “And believe me, I tried playing the Five card…she wouldn’t have it.” This caused the Judge to smile and Five was starting to feel a bit less nervous about this whole thing. 

“My power sucks.” Klaus grasped the desk and tried to haul himself up to look at the papers in front of the Judge. “Does it say that in there?” At the stern look the Judge gave him he sat back down. “Anyway. Dad wants me to get over my fear of the dead. Totally something I’d love to do but being shoved in a mausoleum is NOT a fun time.” The Judge’s face suddenly showed a level of concern that made Five think that they may have this in the bag from the least likely source. “Five has been helping me meditate. It hasn’t made the ghosts go away, but it makes it a lot easier to ignore them.”  
“Thank you, young man. I have to say this is probably the most fun I have ever had hearing testimony.” Klaus winked at the judge and threw him finger guns before hopping down off the stand and calling out to the room, “Follow that Allie!”

Allison tried her best to keep her composure, but she couldn’t help but think of the things Five said about her. She thought about what she had planned to say and threw it out the window. “Dad makes me feel special.” Five’s confidence from hearing Klaus talk was deflated immediately. “He makes me feel like I’m the most important kid in the world. He tells me I’m strong, and I’m smart and says that my power is the most valuable on the team.” She shot a glare at Reginald and finished. “He does this by punching down my siblings. I’d rather be treated like everyone else and have real friends. Five treats me like everyone else. He even grounded me once!” She smiled at Five. “It was awesome.”

Diego sat on the chair and tried to calm himself as the judge asked him the same question as his siblings before him. He hesitates before slowly choosing his words and delivering each one carefully. “Five takes time with each of us. He makes us know that…” He told himself not to look at Reginald while he spoke, but he accidently glanced over and saw the stern look on the man’s face. “…that, w-w-w…” Hargreeves scoffs. He actually scoffs at a stuttering child in the courtroom. Five keeps his eyes on Diego and calls out what Mom used to tell Diego. “Picture the word in your mind.”  
Diego nods. “W-w-we’re just as good as each other. He’s also a g-g-good Mom.” This elicits a full-on laugh from Five. He shakes his head as Diego smiles a toothy grin and takes his seat next to Ben.

Luther walked calmly up to the chair but doesn’t take it. He stays standing and looks at the Judge. “I want to stay with Five.” He sniffed back a few tears and turned before the judge could say anything and walked back to his seat.

~~~~~~

Liz stood out in the hall of the courtroom pacing nervously. The judge had cleared the room except for the lawyers, and all the Hargreeves. She wished that she could hear what was being said but did not have Vanya’s particular skill set so she was relegated to just waiting. She had walked the length of the hall for what seemed like hours when the door suddenly swung open. 

Out walked Reginald Hargreeves, his face was difficult to read as he and his lawyer strolled out. She gasped in shock and fear when she saw that behind him, the six children she had come to love like her own followed him in numerical order, single file. She watched as the man stopped, causing the children to line up in front of him out of sheer habit. He looked up and down the line, tossed an annoyed glare her way, and turned on his heels in the other direction, leaving the kids behind.

The door opened once more and out came her brother and Five, smiling as they shook hands. Five crouched down and the kids ran up to him and the strange little family shared what Liz thought may be the most awkward group hug she had ever seen. It was glorious. Five managed to detangle himself from the hoard and strolled over to where she was standing. He leaned in, took her face in his hands, and placed a loving kiss to her lips before turning around and addressing the kids as well as her, “Let’s go home.”


	12. Epilogue

Five was putting the last bag of carrots into Vanya’s Minecraft lunch box when he heard the thunderous sound of six pairs of feet trampling down the stairs. He closed up the box and set it at the end of the line after the Star Trek, Star Wars, two BTS, and Harry Potter boxes, arranged in order from 1 to 7. Old habits die hard.

Liz was quietly sipping her coffee and pouring over some magazine that was swiftly taken over by Allison as she sat down next to her for breakfast. “Hey!”  
“I’m sorry Liz, but as your official wedding planners, Klaus and I have to help approve the style of dress you are going to be wearing.”  
Their soon-to-be sister-in-law chuckled. “Do I still get to be the one to wear it?”  
“Don’t be silly, of course.”  
“Alright then, I’ve circled a few, let me know what you think.” She grabbed the magazine back out of the girl’s hand. “After school.”

Five finished bringing breakfast to the table and the group dug in enthusiastically. Their first day of school the previous year had been nerve wracking. They didn’t know anyone; they didn’t even know how to be real kids. This year would be decidedly different. They all had built in friends, even Ben was going to be joining the Kinley’s younger brother as he was in 7th grade as well. The kids were all excited at the prospect of being 6th graders and ‘ruling the school’ as Klaus so elegantly put it. 

After breakfast, Five watched as everyone took their lunch boxes and grabbed bags before heading out to the van. All except Ben. He just looked at the Harry Potter box with a distressed expression.  
“What’s up?” Five came over and stood next to him while Liz listened in from the kitchen doorway.  
“Henry said that kids in junior high don’t use lunch boxes. They’re for babies.”  
“Henry is starting 7th grade today just like you. How does he know what junior high is like?”  
Ben sighed, reaching up to take the box of the counter. “I just already have one strike against me in the age category. I wanted to look as cool as possible.”

Five watched as Ben turned toward the door, defeated. He took a few steps before Five called him back. “Wait.” Ben turned around to see Five rummaging through the cabinet and pulling out a brown paper bag. “Gimmie.” Ben’s face lit up as he thrust his lunch at Five who emptied the contents into the bag and handed it back. “We wouldn’t want anyone thinking you weren’t cool.”  
“Thanks Five!” He ran past Liz, grabbed his backpack and headed outside to join his siblings.

Five walked Liz to the door. “You sure you don’t mind?”  
“The Jr High is on the way to school. It’s no trouble.”  
He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. It started out sweet but turned a bit more passionate as he placed his hand on her lower back and she snaked a hand around to thread her fingers through his hair. They only broke apart when the sounds of groans and a very distinct, “get a room,” were heard. He smirked and took the empty mug from her hand before she walked over to climb into the van.

He watched as the van pulled out of the driveway and down the street. He sighed as he went back in and started to clean up the breakfast dishes. As he cleaned, he thought about what the future had in store for him. He had a wonderful family, a woman who loved him, and no more Reginald Hargreeves to worry about. 

When he finished, he threw the towel into the laundry basket and walked back to the kitchen. He picked up the discarded Harry Potter lunch box, put his other hand on his hip and smiled, declaring to no one in particular, “I am a pretty good Mom.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments are appreciated.


End file.
